In our final episode, we are joined by Tanelle Bolt, found of RAD Recreation Adapted Society, Soulfly Experiences, and Pro Tips for Paras. Sustaining a spinal cord injury when adventuring with friends in Port Renfrew, Tanelle found limited options in the community for adventuring and recreating, so she decided to start up RAD Recreation Adapted Society.  On a mission to establish gear boxes across Canada and map out resources, places to find adventure toys, and programs where everyone can play their way together.

Growing up, Tanelle loved golf and when she was injured, she looked for ways to play and found the paragolfer. In this episode, she chats about golf, what's happening with paragolf, how the game is evolving, and accessible golf courses.

Connect with Tanelle and support opportunities for people to play their way through:

RAD Recreation Adapted Society
Soulfly Experiences
Pro Tips for Paras

In our latest episode, we chat with Jeanne Eichler about music, the arts community, and thoughts on community and connection during and beyond COVID. 

In today's episode, Dr. Rosalie Wang, an occupational therapist at the University of Toronto, joins me for a fun chat about technology, design, participation, and belonging in our communities. We talk about how technology can be both a bridge and a divider. What occupational therapists can do in the tech arena, how tech could be made accessible and inclusive, and how it's important to include disabled people and older adults at the table when we're designing technology so that we can all use it in our day-to-day lives.

You can follow Rosalie on Twitter (@RosalieWangOT) and find out more about her research here: https://ot.utoronto.ca/about/core-faculty/rosalie-wang/ 

Join Anna and Emily as we have a conversation with Gretchen Kingma about her role as an occupational therapist and realtor.

Gretchen Kingma, OTR, CAPS, ECHM, and REALTOR©️, is an occupational therapist in Missouri, USA who has gone into real estate full time and has successfully carved out a market niche serving individuals with accessibility-specific and aging-in-place needs.  


In this episode, we talk about:

• What a Realtor OT (trademark pending) is and how Gretchen brought occupational therapy and real estate services together to promote accessible communities
• finding accessible homes during COVID
• Advocating for accessible design in  building codes

Learn more from Gretchen:

She is offering an upcoming course for occupational therapists who are interested in learning more about working in the real estate field and helping people find accessible homes in their communities. Registration is here: OT to RE webinar

Today, Anna chats with Emma Smith, PhD., about some of our favourite things: assistive technology, policies, and interdependence. 

We discuss:

• everyone using assistive technologies every day
• access to assistive technologies
• interdependence and its relation to assistive technology and community
• community mobility and accessibility - things to consider to design community spaces that everyone can use

To learn more about Emma and her research and projects, check out: https://emmamariasmith.ca/ 

In this episode, Isabel Fryszberg, a leader in arts-based occupational therapy in Canada, chats with Anna about how she has used the arts to co-create community, build belonging, promote occupational justice, and facilitate wellbeing. We discuss the privilege that is often associated with the arts and the importance of breaking down barriers to accessing the arts. Coming into occupational therapy with a visual arts background and inspired by the Living Museum, Isabel lead the creation of the Creative Works Studio, an art studio to promote wellbeing amongst people living with mental illness in inner city Toronto. Through the Creative Works studio, people discovered their love of art, that they could do it, and some became working artists. Co-designed with members of the studio, 'What's Art Got to Do With It' was born as a way to share knowledge about the impact of the arts on wellbeing and, as a valued occupation, how engagement in the arts can be transformative and enable people to realise their possibilities. Most importantly, we can start doing the arts at any age - we don't need to be good to experience joy doing artistic occupations, and if we want to, we can practice to become skilled.


Recommended links:

Isabel's website: https://www.isabelfryszberg.com/
What's Art Got to Do With It Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_q7bzdl4cA
The Living Museum: https://untappedcities.com/2019/03/25/go-inside-the-living-museum-at-creedmoor-psychiatric-center-in-queens/
The Creative Works Studio: http://creativeworks-studio.ca/site/
Facebook group for occupational therapists interested in bringing arts-based occupations into practice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2506275573029276

What is belonging and what can we do to build belonging within the health professions?

In our latest podcast episode, Laura Bulk chats with Anna about belonging and her research about experiences of disabled health professionals and health professional students. We touch on allyship, intersectionality, interdependence and showing up for each other as we work towards building belonging (and occupational justice) within our world.

To learn more about the research-based theatre performance that Laura was part of developing, go here and here

On December 20, 2020 from 12-2 PM, the AmCan AHA moment is hosting a live virtual performance of 'Alone in the Ring' - you're invited and you can show up and learn more about what we can do to build belonging within the health professions with disabled health professionals - register here

What do students think about virtual placements?  In our latest episode of the Do What You Love podcast, Anna chats with occupational therapy students, Rachel Hepton, Georgia Vine, Leah Holloway, and Melissa Chieza about their experiences with virtual placements.

Highlights:

1) Learn about Rachel's placement in a social prescribing role and how the virtual placement allowed her to access more international learning and knowledge sharing opportunities

2) Learn about Georgia's virtual placement - that started even before COVID - about online communities and online healthcare

3) Learn about Melissa's virtual placement in London - it also involved social prescribing 

4) Learn about Leah's placement in public health and what she learned about what occupational therapists can do in health promotion

5) Learn from students about how virtual placement and virtual practice and grow and support diversity and occupational justice within our profession.

What are occupational therapists doing to facilitate virtual placements? In today's episode, Anna chats with fieldwork coordinators and placement educators: Lisa Taylor, Teresa Rushton, and Margaret Spencer, and online education expert, Gilly Salmon, about how we delivered placements in the virtual space during COVID. 

Highlights include:

- Learn about the Peer-enhanced e-placement (PEEP)  placement model developed by Dr. Lisa Taylor and Gilly Salmon at the University of East Anglia
- Learn about how Margaret Spencer, from Sheffield-Hallam University, and her students developed their virtual placement around online communities before COVID even began
- Learn about the virtual placement that Teresa Rushton hosted at the University of Derby - where students were working on projects promoting wellbeing amongst staff and students
- Learn about the virtual placement that I hosted in community-based private practice


You can find out more information on the 5-stage model for online learning: https://www.gillysalmon.com/five-stage-model.html

More information on PEEP placements: https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/allied-health-professions/occupational-therapy-virtual-practice-placement

In today's episode we're joined by Catherine Backman, President of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists and faculty member at the University of British Columbia. Navigating productivity and finding occupational balance during COVID-19 has been a challenge for everyone. Join us for a chat on boundary setting, strategies to self-start and achieving wellness as we settle into the new normal.